I havent had feather/down since i was a kid because I remember all the feathers falling to the bottom during the night and having to shake them up when it got cold but i think things must have got a lot better as my folks have just bought a new feather/down quilt and have been raving about it ever sinceI find I get quite cold in the winter when OH is away (hes my portable hotwater bottle ) but something that helps is putting a pillow at my back, think it stops the draught or might just make me think hes there when im sleeping oh and two big throws help too

We only use hollowfibre as we don't use feather, silk or anything like that.

We don't heat our bedroom though and last winter we had the mattress topper (gorgeous, worth every penny) with a normal sheet. On top of us we had a flannel sheet then a duvet with high thread count cover - really warm and when it was very cold an alpaca blanket on top of that. We have a double bed but kingsize bedding so we can always tuck ourselves in properly so we don't get the corridor of ice between us in the middle of the night!

Ive got a 15 tog feather duvet, the feathers dont all clump together as they are all in "pockets" Ive washed and dried it several times and its still in good nick and keeps me lovely and toasty warm (although I do wear bed socks in the winter as I just have to have my feet sticking out the bottom of the duvet! and im too tight to have the heating on in the bedroom as I have to have the window open).

Over on MSE probably last winter there was a similar discussion, everyone who had a wool quilt said that they would never go back to a feather or synthetic one. Apparently the wool ones are far lighter & nicer to sleep under.I've been eyeing them up but are very expensive, Dunelm Mill ages ago had a super king reduced to a silly price, about £30 stupidly I thought about the fact that I'd have to buy new covers & didn't buy it. Having read the thread on MSE I wish I'd taken the plunge.

ta for your responses..... research says that wool duvets tend to smell rather strongly of chemicals (must be the cleaner/bug killer which they use) but they regulate to your body heat. Think I will go with the goose feather/down option and get a high tog rating.